Gruul Turf MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 22 setsSee all
RarityCommon
TypeLand

Key Takeaways

  1. Gruul Turf provides valuable card advantage by enabling land reuse and ensuring consistent land plays.
  2. Ramping up quickly with Gruul Turf can lead to more impactful plays by providing double mana.
  3. Despite its benefits, Gruul Turf’s entry-tapped status can hinder your game’s pace notably.

Text of card

Gruul Turf comes into play tapped. When Gruul Turf comes into play, return a land you control to its owner's hand. : Add to your mana pool.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Gruul Turf enters the battlefield tapped but allows you to return a land you control to your hand. This can prove advantageous by enabling you to reuse land with beneficial entry effects or simply ensure a land drop in your next turn, aiding in maintaining a steady flow of resources.

Resource Acceleration: When Gruul Turf is untapped, it provides you with two types of mana—one red and one green. This effectively doubles the mana provided by a single land, propelling your resource acceleration and allowing for more significant plays earlier in the game.

Instant Speed: While Gruul Turf doesn’t operate at instant speed, its benefits when played tactically can set you up for instant speed plays later. By bolstering your mana base, you can keep sufficient mana open to react with instant speed spells during your opponent’s turn, thereby maintaining control and tempo.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Although Gruul Turf itself doesn’t mandate a discard, it requires you to return a land you control to your hand upon entering the battlefield. This can be a setback in early game turns when you’re trying to develop your mana base and maintain tempo against your opponents.

Specific Mana Cost: As a land that provides only red and green mana, Gruul Turf may not be versatile enough for multi-colored decks seeking a wider range of mana access. Decks that don’t utilize both of these colors won’t find Gruul Turf as beneficial, potentially making it a dead draw in certain situations.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although not directly attributing to a high mana cost, its presence can slow you down as it enters the battlefield tapped. This inherent characteristic is crucial to consider, as it could delay your important plays by a whole turn, a considerable disadvantage in games where speed is essential.


Reasons to Include Gruul Turf in Your Collection

Versatility: The Gruul Turf land is an asset to several deck archetypes, especially those that revolve around landfall mechanics or benefit from having access to both red and green mana. Its ability to bounce another land back to your hand can also be tactically used to your advantage.

Combo Potential: Coupled with cards that allow you to play multiple lands per turn or cards that have effects when lands enter the battlefield, Gruul Turf can be a key component in powerful and game-winning combos.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where mana-fixing and land strategies are prevalent, Gruul Turf offers a reliable solution. It provides an immediate two-color mana base that can be critical for casting multi-colored spells or ramping up to powerful creatures and spells ahead of schedule.


How to beat

Gruul Turf presents an interesting dynamic in Magic: The Gathering as it belongs to the bounce land category, offering both mana acceleration and fixing. Unlike basic lands, Gruul Turf enters the battlefield tapped and returns another land you control to your hand, a slight delay that can be exploited. To gain an edge over players utilizing Gruul Turf, consider incorporating land destruction or denial strategies in your deck.

Effective use of cards like Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin can disrupt your opponent’s mana base by targeting their Gruul Turf, which additionally costs them the land they bounced upon its entry. Additionally, incorporating counterplay such as Aven Mindcensor, which limits their ability to search their library, can further impede their progress. Strategies like these force opponents to play on your terms, slowing them down and giving you the upper hand.

Overall, tackling a Gruul Turf-based deck requires a bit of patience and strategic planning. By prioritizing land interference and limiting search capabilities, you can diminish the advantage Gruul Turf provides and steer the game in your favor, making it easier to secure victory against decks that rely heavily on this mana-fixing card.


Cards like Gruul Turf

Gruul Turf presents an interesting dynamic within the range of dual lands in MTG. Like other bounce lands, such as Azorius Chancery or Rakdos Carnarium, it returns a land you control to your hand when it enters the battlefield. This mechanic can be a strategic advantage for landfall triggers or simply to reuse lands with valuable enter-the-battlefield (ETB) effects.

Comparing it to the simplicity of Guildgates like Gruul Guildgate, Gruul Turf offers a bigger mana boost by providing two mana of different colors in one tap. However, it enters the battlefield tapped, much like the Guildgates, delaying immediate use. The difference lies in Gruul Turf’s ability to potentially ramp up your mana resources over time, at the cost of setting you back a land drop.

When matched against basic lands, Gruul Turf doesn’t put you ahead in terms of the land count, but it does allow for a diverse mana base, which is essential in multi-colored decks. This makes Gruul Turf a valuable addition for players looking to maximize their color fixing and mana acceleration in a slower-paced game setting.

Azorius Chancery - MTG Card versions
Rakdos Carnarium - MTG Card versions
Gruul Guildgate - MTG Card versions
Azorius Chancery - Dissension (DIS)
Rakdos Carnarium - Dissension (DIS)
Gruul Guildgate - Gatecrash (GTC)

Cards similar to Gruul Turf by color, type and mana cost

Taiga - MTG Card versions
Karplusan Forest - MTG Card versions
Mogg Hollows - MTG Card versions
Shivan Oasis - MTG Card versions
Mossfire Valley - MTG Card versions
Rockfall Vale - MTG Card versions
Contested Cliffs - MTG Card versions
Skarrg, the Rage Pits - MTG Card versions
Stomping Ground - MTG Card versions
Highland Weald - MTG Card versions
Fungal Reaches - MTG Card versions
Fire-Lit Thicket - MTG Card versions
Kazandu Refuge - MTG Card versions
Rootbound Crag - MTG Card versions
Kessig Wolf Run - MTG Card versions
Gruul Guildgate - MTG Card versions
Cinder Glade - MTG Card versions
Timber Gorge - MTG Card versions
Game Trail - MTG Card versions
Rugged Highlands - MTG Card versions
Taiga - Masters Edition IV (ME4)
Karplusan Forest - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Mogg Hollows - Battle Royale Box Set (BRB)
Shivan Oasis - Invasion (INV)
Mossfire Valley - Fallout (PIP)
Rockfall Vale - Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Promos (PMID)
Contested Cliffs - Commander 2013 (C13)
Skarrg, the Rage Pits - Mystery Booster (MB1)
Stomping Ground - Ravnica: Clue Edition (CLU)
Highland Weald - Coldsnap (CSP)
Fungal Reaches - Time Spiral (TSP)
Fire-Lit Thicket - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Kazandu Refuge - Planechase Anthology (PCA)
Rootbound Crag - Doctor Who (WHO)
Kessig Wolf Run - Commander 2020 (C20)
Gruul Guildgate - Ravnica Remastered (RVR)
Cinder Glade - Fallout (PIP)
Timber Gorge - Global Series Jiang Yanggu & Mu Yanling (GS1)
Game Trail - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)
Rugged Highlands - March of the Machine (MOM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Gruul Turf MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Guildpact, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Gruul Turf and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Gruul Turf Magic the Gathering card was released in 21 different sets between 2006-02-03 and 2024-02-23. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 1023572015normalblackRon Spencer
22006-02-03GuildpactGPT 1582003normalblackJohn Avon
32009-09-04PlanechaseHOP 1342003normalblackJohn Avon
42010-11-08Magic Online Theme DecksTD0 A1302003normalblackJohn Avon
52011-06-17Commander 2011CMD 2762003normalblackJohn Avon
62012-06-01Planechase 2012PC2 1192003normalblackJohn Avon
72015-05-22Modern Masters 2015MM2 2442015normalblackJohn Avon
82016-11-11Commander 2016C16 3002015normalblackJohn Avon
92016-11-25Planechase AnthologyPCA 1192015normalblackJohn Avon
102017-11-17Iconic MastersIMA 2392015normalblackJohn Avon
112018-08-09Commander 2018C18 2522015normalblackJohn Avon
122019-02-15RNA Guild KitGK2 1042015normalblackJohn Avon
132019-08-23Commander 2019C19 2502015normalblackJohn Avon
142020-04-17Commander 2020C20 2792015normalblackJohn Avon
152020-09-25Zendikar Rising CommanderZNC 1312015normalblackJohn Avon
162021-07-23Forgotten Realms CommanderAFC 2432015normalblackJohn Avon
172022-02-18Neon Dynasty CommanderNEC 1702015normalblackJohn Avon
182022-06-10Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's GateCLB 8952015normalblackJohn Avon
192022-07-08Double Masters 20222X2 4072015normalborderlessRon Spencer
202022-07-08Double Masters 20222X2 3252015normalblackJohn Avon
212024-02-09Murders at Karlov Manor CommanderMKC 2652015normalblackJohn Avon
222024-02-23Ravnica: Clue EditionCLU 2382015normalblackJohn Avon

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Gruul Turf has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Gruul Turf card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2013-04-15 If this land enters the battlefield and you control no other lands, its ability will force you to return it to your hand.

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